The Plucky Squire (2024)

This is okay so far.... I might be too old to be the intended audience. The idea is cool but... it doesn't go that far so far. I'm gonna try to finish it though since I think its a shorter game.

The Plucky Squire will receive a streamlined mode in its next patch that strips out a lot of the handholding in the game. I think there is a good chance this will improve the overall experience of the game. I don’t know if it will fix all the issues I have with the 3D portions of the game and some …

An A for effort (and heart), a C for execution. Could have been so much better than it ended up being.

Had to give up on this after it froze and set me back 10 mins, that coupled with the extreme handholding throughout the entire game just really made me not want to play it. Definitely geared more towards children.

I love the presentation but the characters and mechanics are just not compelling enough to see me through it. The mini games are cute but they are rare and the more common Zelda overworld combat is not interesting enough for the in between parts. Still, glad I played it.

Adorable and relaxing.

I’m sorry, but the twitch controls on the honey badger rematch are horrendous and made worse by the fact that you can’t use the D-pad during the mini-game.

Never before did I think it was possible to hate an implementation of Puzzle Bobble (arguably my favourite arcade action-puzzle game) but here we are folks.

The decision to make the final boss fight a rehash of the worst mini-games within the game is a truly terrible decision. I was close to letting the cute factor of the game override my uneven enjoyment, but I think this really solidifies the fact that The Plucky Squire just isn’t enjoyable enough.

Most of this game is very colourful, but there are key sections that are rendered in a de-saturated, almost greyscale mode (for thematic reasons). Those sections are not just de-saturated, they are also low contrast, and the result is that it’s occasionally difficult to make out certain details, including the Plucky squire, against certain backgrounds. This is especially true when …

Hmm, the stealth is back, and this time paired with a pseudo Crypt of the Necrodancer mini-game. This game is at its best when the main thrust of the platforming and puzzles is based on the 2D-3D transition mechanic, and it’s at its worst when it introduces unique mechanics via mini-games that are seldom well designed and are (thankfully) never …

This game is stupid cute, so I might forgive it it’s minor sins.

Really cute so far, but for a platformer the platforming controls and mechanics could be better. It feels somewhat stiff, and the 2D side-scrolling sections are not helped by the fact that you cannot use the d-pad. I think this game is doing interesting things, but the ideas might exceed the execution.

I want to pick this one up today, but it would just sit in my backlog as I play other things.